Bash your own country (was RE: Vive la France?)

Wojtek Sokolowski sokol at jhu.edu
Tue Feb 11 08:48:17 PST 2003


It does not take much intelligence to bash other countries - in fact every idiot does that just fine. A more intellectually challengign task is to provide focused critique of a country, starting with one's own, and list specific features that are either praiseworthy or reprehensible. With that in mind, what do people on this list particularly like or dislike about US as compared to other countries?

My list includes:

Favourable comparison: - relative absence of familialism and clientelism - meritocracy, at least in principle - openness of the society, at least in principle - upward mobility for women - ease in obtaining everyday life necessities

Unfavourable comparison: - the low quality of political discourse - bombastic style, self-righteousness, exceptionalism, rabble rousing instead of rational arguments - plutocracy - the subjugation of public policy to the interests of the wealthy in much greater degree than in any other developed country - land use - low density suburban sprawl, dependence on automobile, wasreful energy consumption, lack of investment in public space - philistinism - anti-intellectualism, arrogance, self-righteousness, in-your-face interaction (large cars, loud music, overstatements) - which are universal. But more accepted here than elsewhere - religiosity - which is very shallow and anti-intellectual but permeates every aspect of public life - what other than Islamic republic countris invoke god in their national emblems or currency?

Wojtek



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